Fleetwood Mac: Fleetwood Mac

Fleetwood Mac was the tenth studio album by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac. The album was the second self titled album for the band. The first, which is also referred to as Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, was the band's debut album released during the original group's blues hey day of 1968. The 1975 self titled release reached number one on the US Billboard 200 chart and produced three top-twenty singles: "Over My Head", "Rhiannon", and "Say You Love Me". Fleetwood Mac (1975) has been certified 7x platinum.

In 1979, Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs, and up and coming audiophile vinyl record production company, rereleased Fleetwood Mac’s self titled album, with new band members Lindsey Buckingham as (guitar) and Stevie Nicks (vocals), as a part of their Original Master Recording series. MOFI utilized a half-speed mastering process that was alleged to product a higher quality product with superb sound as compared with conventional mastering techniques.

MOFI's technique is said to improve the high-frequency response of the finished record. This is done by halving the speed during cutting. Therefore, very high frequencies that are difficult to capture during the cutting process become much easier since they are now mid-range frequencies. While the process has produced some quality records, it has also received great criticism for producing some overly EQ'd releases. Highs tend to be pronounced, as does base, and mids tend to be drowned out during the process of trying to recover the highs. This phenomenon is lovingly referred to as the smiley face EQ.

MOFI closed its doors in 1999 during the height of the CD era . MOFI was resurrected by Music Direct in 2001 and even though they have been using different mastering techniques recently, they are still plagued by smiley face EQ issues (see Eagles Hotel California and Van Halen One-Step reviews). This would lead one to believe that it may not be the process (half-speed mastering) that is the issue, but the person doing the mastering and the school of mastering they come from.

TRACK LISTING
Side one
1. Monday Morning
2. Warm Ways
3. Blue Letter
4. Rhiannon
5. Over My Head
6. Crystal
Side two
1. Say You Love Me
2. Landslide
3. World Turning
4. Sugar Daddy
5. I'm So Afraid

Regardless of the mastering issues MOFI has had , somehow this release and a few others escaped the smiley face EQ issue. Until the reissue of Fleetwood Mac by Reprise as a two record set cut at 45 RPM, mastered by Chris Bellman and pressed at Pallas, this release was a contender for the best available pressing. That said, this is still possibly the best pressing available at 33 RPM. Although the 1975 Winchester pressing gives it a run for less money. If you are looking for a 33 RPM version of Fleetwood Mac, this release is worth consideration . However, you'll likely pay as much or more than you would for the 45 RPM Bellman cut. 💵

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